When I was young, Holy Week in our house meant less TV time, no loud music, no boisterous laughter and no rambunctious playing with friends beginning on Holy Monday until Black Saturday. On Good Friday, we would watch videos of Spartacus, King of Kings and The Ten Commandments before going to watch the Santo Entierro procession in the afternoon. At dawn on Easter Sunday, we would go to the church plaza for the reenactment of the imagined reunion of Christ with his mother Mary after His resurrection. Our family was never big on doing the Visita Iglesia because my father never really did understand the point of it.
When I got older, I still preferred to observe Holy Week pretty much the way we did back then except that I did Bible readings on my own as well as meditated and reflected about my life and my relationship with God and the people around me. And it's still what I do today.
I guess each family and each person has their own way of observing Holy Week. Whether we fast, flog ourselves, go on a vacation, do the Visita Iglesia/Stations of the Cross, let's not forget what this week is really about. For me it's about remembering and understanding Jesus' unconditional love and great sacrifice for us as well as it being an opportunity to personally take a good hard look at myself and see if I'm the person He intended me to be. The answer, of course, is that I'm not but I will continue trying to be.
Mood Music: Amazing Grace by Hayley Westenra